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Roars from the Mountain »
Colonial Management of the 1951 Volcanic Disaster at Mount Lamington
Authored by: R. Wally Johnson
Publication date: April 2020
Mount Lamington broke out in violent eruption on 21 January 1951, killing thousands of Orokaiva people, devastating villages and destroying infrastructure. Generations of Orokaiva people had lived on the rich volcanic soils of Mount Lamington, apparently unaware of the deadly volcanic threat that lay dormant beneath them. Also unaware were the Europeans who administered the Territory of Papua and New Guinea at the time of the eruption, and who were uncertain about how to interpret the increasing volcanic unrest on the mountain in the preceding days of the disaster.
Roars from the Mountain seeks to address why so many people died at Mount Lamington by examining the large amount of published and unpublished records that are available on the 1951 disaster. The information sources also include the results of interviews with survivors and with people who were part of the relief, recovery and remembrance phases of what can still be regarded as one of Australia’s greatest natural-hazard disasters.
Future-Proofing the State »
Managing Risks, Responding to Crises and Building Resilience
Publication date: May 2014
This book focuses on the challenges facing governments and communities in preparing for and responding to major crises — especially the hard to predict yet unavoidable natural disasters ranging from earthquakes and tsunamis to floods and bushfires, as well as pandemics and global economic crises.
Future-proofing the state and our societies involves decision-makers developing capacities to learn from recent ‘disaster’ experiences in order to be better placed to anticipate and prepare for foreseeable challenges. To undertake such futureproofing means taking long-term (and often recurring) problems seriously, managing risks appropriately, investing in preparedness, prevention and mitigation, reducing future vulnerability, building resilience in communities and institutions, and cultivating astute leadership. In the past we have often heard calls for ‘better future-proofing’ in the aftermath of disasters, but then neglected the imperatives of the message.
Future-Proofing the State is organised around four key themes: how can we better predict and manage the future; how can we transform the short-term thinking shaped by our political cycles into more effective long-term planning; how can we build learning into our preparations for future policies and management; and how can we successfully build trust and community resilience to meet future challenges more adequately?
Fire Mountains of the Islands »
A History of Volcanic Eruptions and Disaster Management in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
Authored by: R. Wally Johnson
Publication date: December 2013
Volcanic eruptions have killed thousands of people and damaged homes, villages, infrastructure, subsistence gardens, and hunting and fishing grounds in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The central business district of a town was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in the case of Rabaul in 1994. Volcanic disasters litter not only the recent written history of both countries—particularly Papua New Guinea—but are recorded in traditional stories as well. Furthermore, evidence for disastrous volcanic eruptions many times greater than any witnessed in historical times is to be found in the geological record. Volcanic risk is greater today than at any time previously because of larger, mainly sedentary populations on or near volcanoes in both countries. An attempt is made in this book to review what is known about past volcanic eruptions and disasters with a view to determining how best volcanic risk can be reduced today in this tectonically complex and volcanically threatening region.
Journals
East Asia Forum Quarterly: Volume 13, Number 3, 2021 »
Publication date: September 2021
The 2020 Olympics put a spotlight on Japan’s crisis governance capabilities. Whether it be in the sphere of social issues, domestic political economy or foreign policy, Japan’s capacity to manage ‘slow-burn’ crises will be a primary test for the country’s policymakers and citizens alike in coming years. This edition of East Asian Forum Quarterly looks at these challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, digital governance, women’s rights in the #MeToo era, foreign policy, natural disaster response and tone-party control of Japan’s government.
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Author / Editors
Tracey Arklay »
Dr Tracey Arklay is the Program Director of the Graduate Certificate in Policy Analysis (GCPA) and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University. Tracey's research on parliamentary practice and disaster management has seen her work extensively with key Queensland government agencies. Dr Arklay’s research incorporates her interest in translating practice into research. She has written on state and federal politics, electoral analysis, parliamentary practice, policy capacity, disaster management and political leadership. She has published two books and one internationally cited monograph. One of her recent publications examined policy making in Australian states: Arklay, T (with John Phillimore), (2015) ‘Policy and policy analysis in Australian states’ (eds. Head, B and Crowley, K), Policy Analysis in Australia, Bristol: Policy Press.
John Cox »
John Cox has 25 years’ experience in the Pacific, working as a volunteer, NGO program manager, development consultant and anthropologist. His core work on ‘fast money schemes’ explores the moral and developmental aspirations of the growing middle classes of the Pacific. John has published on gender, politics and developmental challenges in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Fiji, including new communications technologies, sorcery accusations, disaster response and livelihoods. John is an Honorary Lecturer with the School of Culture History and Language at ANU and an Honorary Associate in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University. He currently works at the University of Melbourne on the ARC Laureate Project ‘Future Islands: Catalysing Solutions to Climate Change in Low-Lying Islands’.